Specialisms
I specialise in the following areas:
- Commercialisation of Services
- Partnership and Strategy Development
- Programme Management
- Project Management
- Public Sector Reform
- Qualified Coach
- Transformation
Jill is an experienced, politically astute and high achieving public sector leader, with a breadth of public sector experience at both County and District level. Her experience ranges from running and transforming a Trading Standards service, developing a national competency framework through to working as a Strategic Director at a large District Council.
She has successfully led teams including performance, programmes and project management, external funding, housing, communities, and has a track record of developing and establishing successful partnerships, across the public sector and beyond. She has a proven commercial approach, delivering leisure and environmental investment programmes as well as being a director and chair of board for a number of local authority trading companies. Jill takes people with her, delivers results and is committed to successful public services.
Key Strengths/Area of Expertise
- Transformation Public Sector Reform
- Transformation Programme and Project Management
- Partnership and Strategy Development
- Commercialisation of services
- Qualified Coach
Professional Qualifications
- Certificate in Company Direction, (Governance, Leadership and Strategy) LGA/IOD, 2017.
- Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) Practitioner (2014)
- Level 5 Certificate in Coaching & Mentoring in Management (2012)
- MSc: Masters in Public Service Administration (Distinction) January 2009 (Anglia Ruskin University)
- PG Diploma Public Service Management (2003)
- Level 4 NVQ: Training & Development (2001)
- Quality Assessor: Certificate of Achievement (1993)
Testimonials/Case Studies
Design and delivery of West Suffolk’s Suffolk County Council’s change and service improvement programme, 2020 – 2024
- Jill led the development and delivery of a programme of reviews across a range of services including parks and leisure, housing options, planning, building control, and regulation and licensing. In order to ensure that change was understood and owned by services, Jill developed a business case to secure consultancy support to develop managers across the Council to lead change and improvement in their own services, establishing a culture of continuous improvement. Services are supported to review and understand demand, understand their processes and identify improvements. Jill ensured the Council’s approach to realisation approach was strengthened and the senior management team reviewed progress jointly quarterly. To date the project has delivered over £600,000 savings as well as addressing legacy system challenges.
Design and delivery of Suffolk County Council’s £60m transformation portfolio (2014-2018)
- Jill established Suffolk County Council’s transformation portfolio, a blend of service based, partnership and enabling programmes to meet the budget challenge and improve service efficiency. The programme was developed with the corporate management team, Cabinet and senior teams and used a range of approaches including lean and systems thinking. Jill led the portfolio development sessions with the senior leadership team, and led the team deployed to support services in redesign, working with a range of teams including highways, adult and children’s social care, health integration and education. The approach included developing and delivering a training programme for staff, and a review and refresh of performance measures, benefits mapping and realisation. Jill ensured the programmes were reviewed over the lifetime of the plan, recalibrating approaches as required including reviewing contracts and commissioning approaches and leading workshops with partners and customers.
West Suffolk Council/Suffolk Consortium of Councils -Creation of Healthy Behaviours partnership, 2023- 2024
- Jill led the set up and delivery of the new Healthy Behaviours Partnership, “Feel Good Suffolk”. Public Health agreed to a partnership delivery model for key elements of Suffolk’s Healthy behaviours service and Jill secured agreement from all Councils across Suffolk to develop the model. Jill set up and chaired the Feel Good Suffolk Board and led the approach to design of the new £2m per annum service, agreed across Suffolk and delivered locally. The project involved extensive design development, working with partners across health and primary and secondary care as well as agreeing the legal and governance frameworks within which the partnership would operate. Jill led workshops and mediated through a number of challenging situations including when one Council wanted to leave the project due to legal concerns which would mean it was unviable. Jill facilitated a meeting with legal representatives of all partner Councils which successfully resolved the matter and the new service was launched to deadline and budget and has seen its first year of successful operation.
Creation of Suffolk’s Climate Emergency Plan, supported by £1.8m pooled funding supported by a public services board (2019 – 2023)
- Jill established Suffolk’s Climate Change, Environment and Energy Board in 2019, setting up a collaborative approach with senior representation from across the public sector in Suffolk together with business and education representatives in response to the climate emergency. Under Jill’s leadership the board commissioned a robust evidence base and developed Suffolk’s Climate Emergency Plan approved by all public sector leaders. To support delivery, Jill negotiated and secured £1.8m partner investment into priority projects and oversaw the communications plan, review of projects and deliverables and community engagement, reporting back to Suffolk Public Sector Leaders’ Group. The approach was identified as best practice by East of England Local Government Authority and shared with other areas.
Relevant Sector Knowledge
- Communities
- Regulatory services
- Leisure services
- Commercial and Trading Companies
- Policy and Performance
- Service review and redesign
LGR Experience & Expertise
| Babergh and Mid Suffolk Councils | March to June 2025 | Interim Director of Place, personally approached to take on interim role leading Communities and Economic Development functions and preparing services for integration with planning and developing LGR proposals. |
| West Suffolk Council | 2016 – 2024 | Strategic Director, leading a portfolio of work across the Council and Suffolk. Specific responsibilities including transformation, place, communities, housing, environment, leisure and health. |
| Local Authority Trading Companies | 2018 – 2024 | Director (including chair of Board) of a number of local authority trading companies including Verse Facilities Management Ltd, Barley Homes Group Ltd , (house building company), and ARP Trading Ltd (Revenues & benefits advisory company). |
| Suffolk County Council | 2008- 2016 | Head of Transformation, Change and Programmes and Business Development, previously Head of Performance Improvement , designing and leading Council’s Corporate Transformation Portfolio and service options for devolution. |
| Suffolk County Council | 2000-2008 | Assistant County Trading Standards, previously Principal Trading Standards Officer |